Category: Random

4235

…is the number of steps it takes from the backdoor of my house to the office. I know this because I woke up, inhaled the sweet summer breeze, and decided to march along the tree-lined paths to work rather than increase the size of my carbon footprint by using a car.

Actually, that’s not why I walked at all. It’s 4235 steps, and that gave me 10 coins on my Nintendo 3DSXL. That’s the most brilliant method to encourage exercise EVER, Nintendo. EVER!

Then, I did some paperwork to fund a new ordinance in town, I harvested some fresh peaches and cherries, and chopped down a tree. I also bought a new pair of glasses and donated some fossils to a local museum.

…in Animal Crossing…

Welcome to my pathetic existence.

…

In further news, Librarian made the main SFF review page on Kirkus Reviews! I’m ONE ABOVE JOHN SCALZI. I had such a nerdgasm I might have started to have a nosebleed. Check here for the SFF page, or go straight to the review. Calloo-callay! If you haven’t gotten a copy of Librarian yet, pick up one today!

Thank You for Soap

So, big week. I launched a book! (If you’re reading this blog and don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, see: this post). I want to offer a HUGE thank you to everyone who’s taken their time and/or money to support me with Lenna’s adventure!

BUT REALLY. More pressing on my mind is the state of affairs in my bathroom. Now, that sounds far scarier than I intend it, but it’s kind of becoming a strange place. If you know me, you already consider bathing something of an obsession of mine, as I’m frequently in the shower or the tub.

Subsequently, I produce a certain amount of humidity (and use so much water that all of Australia weeps every time my hand draws near a faucet) so I’ve found that my bathroom is the ideal place to start growing plants. I have an Anthy plant (real name: unknown), a moon plant (real name: I think it is a moon plant), and then a couple of cacti that sometimes stab me when I’m reaching for my toothbrush, hungover.

I’ve also been cultivating a bar of soap. That sounds strange, and I’m willing to agree with that. As I started using it, it began to take on a shape that alarmed me, so I ceased. Now, I just watch as the gradual splashing from me in the shower and the humidity wear it down.

And do you know what it looks like? DO YOU? It’s Rei/Lilith from THE END OF EVANGELION. 

My shower is the site of the Third Impact.

Lilith Soap
Don’t let any Angels touch it!

If you don’t believe me, compare!

Oh yeah. I’m officially an author on Goodreads.

Still Smiling

Hello, kids!

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. My life’s topsy-turvy due to a family emergency, but it should be sorted out by the end of the weekend. The launch is slightly delayed, but don’t worry; deals are being made and the hardcover and Kirkus review should be out by mid-June! Get your imaginations ready!

A Bao Flies at 428 mph

The beauty of Virgin America is that if you’re willing to cough up the cash (and I am, of course; it’s a business expense) you get wi-fi, so transcontinental flights aren’t nearly as dull as they used to be.  Combined with the fact there’s a “booze button” in the display panel in front of me, I’d say I’m pretty well sorted.

Though I should be reading Librarian on my kindle YET AGAIN to look for more errors, I decided to tackle a short story starring a character who was actually created long before Lenna and her comrades — Tenny Orange.  In the grand, cosmic scheme of Bao’s universe, Tenny has his own arc much like Lenna, and the discerning reader will start to notice some connection, I imagine.

The short story is going to be featured in Moon Rabbit Publishing’s (our imprint!) first ‘zine, mooncrisis!, which it set for launch this summer.  We’re still looking for submissions — artwork, photography, short stories, reviews, or essays pertaining to science, science fiction, fantasy, and the like.  Interested parties contact ME, the Bao!

Anyway, it’s time to press the booze button again.  Chin chin!

12 Days

…until the unholiness of Tax Season ends!

…until I’ve finished going over the copy-edited manuscript proof!

…until I stop running around like a lunatic (note: I’m just planning on stopping the running).

STAY WITH ME, KIDS.

No More Leprechauns

Sorry about the delay in blogging!  I was swept away in a tide of St Patrick’s Day fêtes, beer-filled reunions with old school mates, a ton of great food, and meeting up with the Master of my College, St Cross, at Oxford, and some alumnae about the new addition to the buildings.  Excitement!

Subsequently, zero work was done, New York City was a massive blizzard all weekend, and now I am back to my mundane existence and feeling rather melancholy about it.

But much fun was had, and I did experience some of the finer highlights the City has to offer…

Ponies and Bubbly
Ponies, pate, and bubbles.

And…

Brian Tackles Mega
The “mega” size Sapporo at my fav izakaya.

The Nicest Scariest Place on the Internet

I am the first to admit that I don’t understand Reddit.  It confuses me.  It frightens me.  My Meow once linked me to a NSFW My Little Pony subreddit, and subsequently my Xanax dosage doubled.

That being said, in order to get news about the book out into the internets, people said I needed to promote on Reddit.  With a lot of help, I posted, and, oh my goodness, people were nice.  I didn’t know nice people existed on the internet.

So thank you, people of Reddit, for all your nice comments and support of Librarian!

The Doctor Dies

I have not had an empty weekend in a couple months, which makes my level of personal cray-cray shoot through the roof.  My ears get hot.  I itch.  My leg twitches.

Tomorrow is another busy Saturday: I am putting out to pasture my beloved car, Doctor David Fritz Shirley Baker.  He’s served me well for eleven years (sort of; I was out of the country for a lot of his life).  Lately, though, keeping him in tip-top shape is proving to be more costly than he’s worth (sorry, dear).

And so, tomorrow, Doctor David will be left alone and cold in the driveway as I head out to pick up my new car.  This will be my fourth, and probably the least startling of the lot (does this mean I’m becoming an adult?).  But he/she will need a name.

Any suggestions?

No Longer Hobbit I

I chopped off my hair!  I know in all the pictures I’ve self-indulgently posted on this site, the hair has been short, but in honor of The Hobbit‘s release this past December I had been growing out my hair.  It was the melancholy what made me to do it.

Brian Gets His Hair Cut
Squeeeee!

After the trim, I popped by a pub and wanted to write something — but what?  Continue book two?  Instead, I realized I wanted to take up poetry again, so I wrote an Elizabethan sonnet.  Originally, I had intended to wax romantic on the rainy afternoon, but the poem had other intentions.  I’m not even sure I can post it online.

Does anyone else ever start a piece of writing, or a picture, or even a dinner, with one thing in mind, and just ever let it go in the direction ‘it’ wants?  I didn’t know I had it in me.  If I get the courage, one day, I’ll post it.